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Cannix Yau

A tech entrepreneur has pledged to rebuild a free database created over nearly three decades by the late Hong Kong corporate governance activist David Webb, bringing it ‘into the modern era” with the help of AI.
Keith Li King-wah, co-founder and principal trainer of Allytic AI, announced on his Facebook page on Wednesday that he would rebuild Webb-site’s database of 27 years with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Webb, who died aged 60 from metastatic prostate cancer in January this year, had announced months before his death that his website would shut down.
“I won’t allow anyone to carry on Webb-site.com itself, because I would not want it potentially polluted or corrupted with clickbait, crypto-scams or worse, or used to advocate something of which I would not have approved,” he declared in a blog post last year. “The editorial side of it has to die with me.”
The database aggregates publicly available information on a wide range of topics from the board compositions and reporting speed of listed companies to Hong Kong consumer prices and energy consumption trends.
Li noted that under Webb’s instructions, the site’s data and programs were released into the public domain for free use, provided the Webb-site brand name was not used.
“Now that he is gone, there is no one left to object or clarify; so this boundary can only be guarded by those who remain,” he said.
“I decided to bring the project into the modern era using AI and shake off 27 years of tech debt. That requires going through every file line by line.
But Li said he would need another six months to rebuild the data, adding that he would start by upgrading everything from scratch using artificial intelligence (AI), keeping only the site’s underlying logic while rewriting everything else.
“That should keep it running smoothly for at least another 27 years. Moving forward, I can add whatever features I want: I could even build an MCP [model context protocol] server for people to use, and redesign the user interface however I like, completely free from the constraints of ASP and MySQL,” he said.
“I did all of this entirely on my own using AI, without writing a single line of code myself.”
“Since some people said it was impossible to use AI to rebuild the data, I wanted to push its use in this attempt,” he told the South China Morning Post.
ASP, or active server pages, is an older web scripting technology, while MySQL is an open-source database management system.
In 1998, aged 32, Webb launched webb-site.com, a platform he managed single-handedly and made freely accessible to the public.
The website focused on Hong Kong’s corporate and economic governance, as well as business, finance, investment, legal and regulatory affairs.
The British citizen said he turned down more than 100 offers to carry forward his site.
The site, which is still online, also tracked the membership of more than 800 statutory and advisory bodies, ranging from the Executive Council and Legislative Council to the Dogs and Cats Classification Board.
Last year, he said he had spent HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) of his own money to establish and run the venture.


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Tech innovator uses AI to rebuild David Webb’s Hong Kong database

Keith Li (right) says he will rebuild the data left by David Webb (left), who died in January. Photo: SCMP

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David Webb with his website displayed on his computer, photographed at his Shiu Fai Terrace home in 2000. Photo: SCMP

David Webb delivers an address at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong in May last year. Photo: May Tse

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Tributes have poured in for former corporate governance activist David Webb, who died in Hong Kong on Tuesday at the age of 60. Photo:  May Tse

David Webb will be remembered as a fearless advocate of corporate governance and protector of small investors.  Photo: Jocelyn Tam

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong Economy

Keith Li says he wants to bring database into the modern era using AI ‘and shake off 27 years of tech debt’


Keith Li says he wants to bring database into the modern era using AI ‘and shake off 27 years of tech debt’.


Hong Kong economy

China

Tech innovator uses AI to rebuild David Webb’s Hong Kong database

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Keith Li says he wants to bring database into the modern era using AI ‘and shake off 27 years of tech debt’

Keith Li says he wants to bring database into the modern era using AI ‘and shake off 27 years of tech debt’